


The Beach

by ananbeth



Series: mob au [5]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, F/M, Meet-Cute, Mob Boss Annabeth Chase
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23583685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ananbeth/pseuds/ananbeth
Summary: A meet cute.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Series: mob au [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1102638
Comments: 26
Kudos: 475





	The Beach

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blackjacktheboss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackjacktheboss/gifts).



> my brief from Sophii was... Mob au. Annabeth at her giant Montauk house looking out over the ocean after some abstract hard fought battle. She spots a man on her beach taking photos. Charles is ready to pounce, but there’s something that draws Annabeth to this man. Who is he.....👀
> 
> so here u go lol

Annabeth didn’t always value down time, but over the years she had learned how invaluable it was. Her line of work wasn’t exactly nine-to-five, monday-to-friday so she needed to create her own boundaries and find her places of play and strictly no work.

That’s what Montauk was for her.

They had just wrapped up a hard fought deal and Annabeth was still trying to shake off the tightness in her muscles, which truly felt like it went down to her very bones, that came with being switched on all the time. She kept a small circle, made up of trusted employees. She wasn’t one to trust easily, it had to be earned, pried from her. But even with that team around her, she had felt on edge the whole time.

As she walked out onto the spacious decking of her holiday home, she took in a deep breath of sea air and rolled her shoulders out. They cracked with some satisfaction and she made a mental note to book another session in with her chiropractor when she returned to Olympic Harbour. It was still early morning and the sun was rising lazily over the water, creating a warm orange light over the whole scene. There were times, brief passing moments in her life, when she thought about living a life different to her own; a simpler life where she bought groceries on a Thursday and joined friends at the bar for drinks after work and visited Montauk for a weekend trip, not an escape with a bodyguard in tow. 

But she had never been built for that life. This was all she knew. 

“Morning, boss.”

Annabeth turned her head to acknowledge Charles Beckendorf, who handed her a cup of coffee. 

“You’re a godsend,” she told him. 

“And you’re a masochist. This is your first day off in three months and you’re still up at 6am.”

“What can I say? I’m a creature of habit.”

She didn’t have to look at him to know that he was rolling his eyes. She could also feel the tension rolling off him in waves. He was on high alert still. It has only taken her a brief glance to notice the square jut of his jaw and the flick of his eyes over the beach before them. 

“You think we left too soon,” she said. If she was careful then Charles was neurotic.

He sighed. “There’s always a chance of counterattack following a deal like that.”

“We gave it two weeks and nobody knows we’re here.”

He grunted unhappily. 

Annabeth smiled into her coffee and leaned her elbows on the railing. The beach was quiet, too early for it to be busy. Only two other houses had access to this part of the beach anyway and they were both empty this week, she had made sure to check. 

Next to her, Charles stiffened and Annabeth followed his gaze. 

The beach wasn’t empty after all. 

Beside her, Charles reached for the gun in his holster but Annabeth stopped him with a small hand gesture. The intruder was wearing beach shorts and a T-shirt with a fish tail surrounded by the words  _ salty crew chasing tail  _ on the front. He also had a film camera in his hands, the strap looped around his wrist and up his forearm. He hadn’t noticed that he was being watched as he directed his camera lens towards the ocean and made a few adjustments. 

He must have been Annabeth’s age, which made the shirt choice an interesting one. A relic from his college years perhaps. Or a gift from a girlfriend. His dark hair was shaved close on the back and sides of his skull with an unruly mess left on top. He had a deep set tan, like he spent most of his time outside, travelling possibly. He was tall. Taller than her but not as tall as Charles. And he was built nicely, with a lean frame and strong arms. All of this she observed in the first three seconds of looking at him. 

“Annabeth,” Charles warned. 

“He’s harmless,” she decided. 

“And you know that how?”

“He’s not doing anything.”

“He’s trespassing. With a camera.”

“Yes, those photos of seagulls are sure to bring my operation crumbling to the ground.”

“What’s gotten into you?”

She pulled her gaze away from the man on the beach to look her head of security in the eye. In truth, she couldn’t answer his question. She was meticulously careful with every aspect of her life. She didn’t let strangers see anything she didn’t want them to. In fact, she didn’t let anybody who wasn’t in her immediate circle see anything outside of her design. 

“I’m on holiday, Charles,” she said. “And he’s a guy taking some photos on the beach who hasn’t even noticed I exist. A guy who doesn’t know who I am and what I’m going back to after this holiday. So maybe I don’t want you to shoot him right now.”

He clenched his jaw and looked over her shoulder. 

“I wouldn’t be so sure about him not noticing you.”

Annabeth followed his gaze again and this time was met with the man’s eyes as he looked in their direction. 

Charles clicked his tongue and walked back into the house. “You let me know if you change your mind, boss.”

Annabeth didn’t look away from the stranger as he lowered his gaze and continued walking along the beach. 

“Sure thing,” she said quietly. 

* * *

Annabeth didn’t sleep that night. She had spent most of the day reading her book on her balcony and later by the warmth of the fire. She had taken a swim in the ocean but didn’t see the photographer again. Charles had been lingering all day, clearly on edge, but she couldn’t bring herself to be annoyed with him. It was his job to look after her safety, but she knew it ran deeper than that for him. He had put himself in the line of fire - quite literally - too many times for her to doubt his loyalty to her. Not only that, but he  _ cared _ . Not just if she was in literal danger, but if she was in danger of a different type of hurt too. One that usually lasted a while longer than most physical injuries. 

So she let him worry and linger and make his calls while she read her book and thought about the man on the beach. 

But now she couldn’t sleep. 

She felt like a caged animal, restless and trapped. 

Unsure if it was leftover energy from the months long battle she has just won or something else entirely, she decided to get out of bed and walk to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. After emptying half of it into her throat and only feeling mildly less keyed up, she opened the sliding door onto the balcony and stepped outside. 

The cool night breeze lifted her hair off her shoulders and made her wrap her robe more tightly around her body. The moon was bright and full and winking among the stars, all studded amongst an inky black sky. The light pollution in the city meant that she never saw the stars until she travelled elsewhere. She had seen entire constellations, the colourful painting of the Milky Way splattered up across the night sky. But this was still her favourite way to see it, from a little beach in Long Island. 

As she listened to the soft swell of the waves beyond the beach, the knot in her chest began to untangle and her breaths eased out with less raggedness. She gazed out at the dull reflection of the moon on the still water. And then she saw him, with his feet in the shallows and the hood of his sweater over his head. It was definitely him, the man from this morning, she could tell by the way he held himself, the loping gait of his walk. 

He was just walking along the beach, not even glancing her way. Presumably on his way home for the night. 

Annabeth rapped her manicured nails against the wooden railing. Tomorrow, she would meet him. 

* * *

She woke early the next morning and took a long shower before standing in front of her mirror and talking herself in and out of going to the beach today. Her mother would tell her this was a distraction and maybe it was. But wasn’t that why she was here? For a distraction, a vacation. He looked like a lovely way to spend her time while out of the city, what harm was there in that?

A spy. Charles’ voice this time, low and certain.

It was always possible. A trick which had fooled her before, cruelly and with conviction before she had taken her revenge. She had been younger then, not necessarily naive but less exposed to the world than she was now.

She wouldn’t expose any part of herself, anything vulnerable. There was nothing about her life at this beach house. The photos were props, the artworks meaningless prints, the furniture bought from catalogues. She brought nothing with her but clothes and her mobile phone, which was carefully encrypted to ensure nobody but her could access it. She could be anybody, an ordinary businesswoman on a trip away from the city with her strapped and armed personal bodyguard and head of security. Well, she could think of a cover for Charles.

Annabeth was filling in her eyebrows when Charles knocked on her bedroom door.

“Come in,” she called.

He took one look at her and frowned. “Please don’t.”

“I’m just going for a walk on the beach.”

“I’ll put my shoes on.”

“No you won’t.”

“Annabeth.”

“Charles.”

They stared each other down and after a moment he seemed to realise that he would not be winning this one. He never won.

“At least take the dogs,” he pleaded.

She sighed. “I don’t need them, but if it will make you feel better.”

“Thank you.”

Annabeth pulled a sweater on, something that made her look softer than she actually was. “You know I live to make you happy, Charles.”

“You live to make my life increasingly difficult, boss.”

She passed him on the threshold and put a hand on his arm, trying for some genuine assurance. “I’ll be fine.”

He sighed again. “I know you will.”

Annabeth’s dogs were not pets, they were guard dogs and they were more professional than even Charles Beckendorf when it came to protecting Annabeth. She would never take them into a battle, but they were a very good form of intimidation when the situation called for it.

The two glossy coated dobermans stood up when she entered the porch where they had already been fed by Charles this morning. She clipped their leashes onto their collars and went out the back door which led directly down to the beach.

And there he was. She didn’t even have to wait.

His lone figure stood by the shoreline, looking out at the water. She took a moment to appreciate the way his shoulders filled out his t-shirt and kept the dogs close to her as she walked closer. She was perhaps within twenty feet of him when he turned around, startled.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow and waited.

“Uh, hello,” he offered.

“Morning.”

He squinted against the sun and raised a hand to shield his eyes. “Nice day, huh?”

“Yeah we’ve been pretty lucky.”

He walked toward her, stepping onto the dry sand and lifting a hand for her to shake. The dogs sniffed curiously but didn’t growl. Annabeth put their leashes into one hand and shook his.

“Percy,” he said as he gripped her hand and let go.

His hands were worn and rough, with long artists fingers that wrapped nicely around hers. He had a good handshake, friendly and unassuming. Annabeth read a lot from a person’s handshake, and Percy told her to trust him with his.

“Annabeth.”

“Very nice to meet you. It’s a nice place you got there.” He lifted his chin to the large beach house behind her.

“Thank you. Do you have a place here as well?”

“Yep. A little way down the beach.” He pointed to his right where a copse of trees hung over the water, blocking the view further down. He didn’t seem to know that had been by design.

“You seem to like this part of the beach,” she noted.

He looked a little shy, like he hadn’t expected her to have noticed him. “Uh, yeah it’s nice here. A good place to get shots.” He gestured to the camera hanging around his neck.

Annabeth nodded. “It’s actually privately owned.”

“The beach?”

She nodded. “Yep.”

“But it’s a beach.”

“Yes it is.”

“You can’t own a beach.”

Annabeth found herself smiling at his growing incredulity. “You can, actually. Well... _ I  _ can.”

“Oh.” He appraised her. Taking this new information in. Then he walked away, straight into the ocean until the soft waves reached his knees. He looked at her and crossed his arms, looking pleased with himself. 

“What’s this?” she enquired. 

“Do you own the ocean?”

Annabeth tilted her head and tried to keep control over her smile. She was a well practiced poker face, but this stranger made her feel like a goofy twelve year old talking to her crush. 

“No, I don’t suppose I do.”

He spread his arms like he’d won and took a few steps forward. When he reached the shoreline he raised his eyebrows. “And now I’m trespassing again.”

“Yes you are. Could have you shot for that.”

He laughed, oblivious to the truth of her statement. He was a cute laugher. A handsome one. With well worn lines around his eyes and mouth, like this was his natural state to be in. Annabeth watched the curve of his mouth and the glint in his eyes and felt a lurch in her chest. This was potentially very dangerous. Charles would tell her it is, would insist that this man was a spy sent to sabotage her or a chisel sent to chip at her solid stone exterior until she showed her weaknesses. 

But Annabeth found him dangerous for a whole other reason. As she watched his laughter ease into a generous smile, his eyes the colour of the ocean behind him trained on her, she felt the flooding sensation that he could be the home she had been searching for her whole life. 

“Have you had breakfast?” she found herself asking.

He shook his head, still smiling. “You know a place?”

“Not really. Do you?”

He nodded. “You can even bring your dogs.”

* * *

Percy’s breakfast spot was a little cafe in town which served blue pancakes and had a view of the ocean from its old white trimmed windows. Annabeth’s dogs sat obediently next to her chair, watching the door and Annabeth looped the handles of the leashes through the leg of her chair for pretense. They didn’t need to be tied up, but she figured it might look strange to leave them loose.

The cafe was cute and it seemed that Percy knew the chef who was also the owner and hollered from his position behind the cooktop when Percy waved. Annabeth didn’t usually eat at places like this. Eating out at restaurants was always a risk and her choice was usually more high end, somewhere she knew every member of staff’s security number before she walked through the door. This was new. She wasn’t in control here.

She relaxed into her seat as their plates of food arrived and raised her eyebrows at Percy’s pancakes.

“What’s with the colour?” she asked.

Percy gave her a wry smile. “My mom and I have been coming here since I was a kid. She always complained at Bob that his food wasn’t blue enough until he caved and added these to the menu. They do a pretty good shake too. You should try it.”

“I will. So your mom is just really into blue, then?”

“She, uh. It was sort of a fuck you to my step-dad back when I was a kid, before they split.”

“He wasn’t a good guy?” she asked. She could tell from his frown and the tension in his shoulders that Percy had despised him.

He shook his head but didn’t say anything more. 

“Well, here’s to blue food then.” She held up her coffee cup for a toast and Percy reciprocated, his face relaxing into a grateful smile.

“To blue food,” he echoed.

The food was actually delicious. Percy let her try some of his pancakes and ordered her a blue milkshake when the server removed their empty plates and Annabeth let herself be charmed. He was funny and open in a way that wasn’t chauvinistic. Annabeth wasn’t used to it. Men were constantly assuming what she wanted and trying to fill that image or they wanted something from her, her money or her power or her body.

Percy wasn’t trying to get anything from her.

“So where are you from?” he asked, lightly.

Annabeth looked at him over the milkshake, taking a sip to mask her delay. “A few places. Olympic Harbour is home now though.”

“No way?”

“Yeah. You too?” She already knew. His accent wasn’t strong but it was still noticeable.

“Yeah. My mom and I moved there from the city after she split from my step-dad. I’m a New Yorker at heart, but I love that town. ” He said it with pride. She liked that. “I don’t have a place there right now though, so I’m on my mom’s couch.”

“I bet she loves that.”

He laughed. “Not to sound like a dick, but I think she actually does love having me home.”

“You guys are close huh?”

“Oh yeah. It’s always been just us, ya know? My dad died before I was born and she was with my step-dad for a few years when I was in middle school but I don't think she ever loved him. He was just safe, ya know? Until he wasn’t.”

He looked down at the napkin he had been methodically tearing to shreds. He looked like he hadn’t meant for all that to come out and didn’t know how to recover. Annabeth wanted to save him.

“So you’ve been out of the country for a while?” she asked, picking up from an earlier thread.

He looked up. “Hm?”

“You don’t have an apartment right now…I just assumed.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, I have. My buddy has been doing some conservation work in Madagascar and i joined him there for six months as their photographer.”

“Cool gig.”

He was snapping out of it, coming back to life. “It was nice to spend some time with him. We hadn’t been able to do that since we were kids, really. He’s my best friend but we both got jobs that require travel so, ya know.”

“You love it though. The job.”

“Oh yeah. It’s a fuckin dream, I can’t belive how lucky I got sometimes. I mean it’s a grind too, don’t get me wrong. But I get a lot of perks and I get to work with animals more than I work with people, so I’m not about to complain.”

She laughed. “You seem to like people well enough to me.”

He shrugged. “Some people are okay.”

She wondered what kind of friend he was and how he acted around people he didn’t like. She wanted to observe him with his friends, in a bar, while working, in bed, in  _ her _ bed, in her bathtub. She wanted to pick him apart and learn the veins under his skin and the way his brain worked and the noises he made when he was waking up. As they left the cafe and bid farewell to Bob the chef, Percy walked closer to her side than he had before and the dogs didn’t mind at all, neither did Annabeth.

They walked along the beach without verbally agreeing to do so. They both wanted to extend their time together. In fact, Annabeth didn’t really want to say goodbye at all. As they neared her house, she stopped and looked at him, feeling pleased when he immediately did the same. Only partially feigning some nerves, she bit her lip and glanced down before meeting his eyes again.

“I was wondering what you were doing...for the rest of the day?”

“Nothing,” he answered quickly. And then, more gently. “Nothing.”

“Me too. So...do you wanna do nothing together?”

“Yeah. Absolutely.”

Annabeth smiled and started walking towards the house again.

“Except,” Percy said, catching up to her. “That guy from yesterday…?”

“Oh, that’s my husband. You’re cool with that, right?”

“Uhhh.”

Annabeth kept her silence for three whole seconds before she started laughing. “Your face. Don’t worry, he owns the place and was here to fix the boiler.”

_ A handyman, _ she heard Charles’ scathing voice in her head.

“You fucker!” Percy exclaimed, voice full of laughter and relief as he chased her and grabbed her around the middle.

Annabeth laughed and let him manhandle her. She could have him pinned to the ground in seconds, but this was more fun. Her dogs didn’t agree though and, for the first time since meeting Percy, turned on him with feral growls.

He dropped her, keeping hold of her waist as she stood between him and the dogs, ordering them to sit. They did as they were told immediately, silenced and obedient.

“Jesus,” Percy muttered.

Annabeth grabbed his hand and picked up the leashes, leading them all towards the house again.

“They’re a little protective,” she said, hoping Percy hadn’t been properly freaked out.

But his hand tightened around hers. “No kidding. Remind me to never get on your bad side.”

“Oh, you shouldn’t have a problem with that.”

He actually blushed and Annabeth thought she might have fallen in love with the pretty pink of his cheeks right there and then.

* * *

She had actually had genuine intentions to give him a tour of the house and have some coffee on the balcony and spend some more time talking. But after he roughoused her outside, she hadn’t been able to get the feel of his arms around her waist and the warm tickle of his breath against her neck out of her head. The truth was that as soon as she put the dogs back on the porch, she was pushing him against the wall and kissing him.

To his credit, Percy responded with just as much enthusiasm, grabbing her hips with those long fingers digging in and pulling her closer to him as she framed his jaw in her hands and tilted his face to kiss him deeper. His body was lithe and strong and warm and she pressed against him keenly, feeling reckless and needy with want. It had been too long since she had felt like this and she felt deserving of it.

So she let herself have it.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be that easy,” she told him, later, in her bed, with the covers thrown lazily over their bodies. Percy lay face down, hugging a pillow as he looked up at her lying on her side next to him. He shrugged in a cumbersome way, looking happily exhausted. It was barely mid afternoon.

“In my defence,” he said. “You’re stupid hot.”

She laughed, shaking her head at him. “I had noble intentions, I swear! I was going to show you around the house and-”

“I bet you say that to all the boys.”

“Well, not  _ all _ of them.”

“Oh is that how it is?”

“Maybe.”

He propped his chin on his fist. “So what was it that made you break your honour? Does the sight of a man using you as a human body shield against her dogs just really get you going?”

“They are very scary.”

“No shit. I thought they were gonna rip my throat out.”

“I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“No?”

“No. It would be a nightmare to deal with. You can’t bury a body on the beach.”

He choked out a laugh. “Jeez. You wouldn’t try and melt my body in the bathtub with acid?”

“Too messy. Have you not seen breaking bad?”

“Fair. I suppose you could drive out to the woods.”

“Mm. Would ruin my car.”

“Well, I'm out of options.”

“I suppose I’ll just have to keep you around then.” She leaned over to kiss him. 

Unlike the frantic, heavy kisses before, this was slow and sweet and enticing. A honey trap, dragging her deeper into his embrace. But she was happy to be wrapped up and rolled over and held tightly to his body.

Percy’s stomach started to rumble around 6pm and she elected that they get some food. 

Annabeth knew how to cook, vaguely, if it was a short recipe which demanded little of her time and focus. She had always had somebody who was specifically hired to cook for her and so had never been required to focus her efforts in the kitchen. So she was quite pleased when Percy offered to make them something. She took up residency on the bar stool and watched him check inside the fridge and pantry for food.

He had pulled on his boxers and been left shirtless after she pulled it over her own head instead. Annabeth propped her chin on her hand and openly appreciated the twist of his torso as he moved around the kitchen with an ease that made it seem like it was his own.

“What are you making?” she asked him.

“Um. Pasta. You don’t have a lot in.”

“Pasta is good.”

He started chopping onions and garlic and Annabeth had to bite her lip at the sight of him wielding a knife. She really needed to get a hold of herself.

“Tell me more about your work,” she demanded and he raised his eyebrows at her, smiling good-naturedly.

“What’s there to tell? I take photos of pretty things.”

“Things? Animals? People?”

“Not people so much, unless it's for something I care about a lot - like my buddy’s project I was telling you about. I prefer to work with nature, animals. I did some work with an awesome photographer a year or so ago in Greenland where we waited for weeks and weeks to see narwhals. I’m tellin ya, I struggle with the waiting around part of this job, but it’s fuckin worth it when the bastards finally show up and sit all pretty for you to get your shots.”

“How poetic.”

He shrugged, smiling and unbothered by her teasing. “People can be interesting sometimes, too.”

“Really? Would you photograph me?”

“Well, like I said, I take photos of pretty things. So you’d be a perfect subject.”

“Very smooth.”

“Thank you very much. In fact...hang on.”

“What? Where are you going?”

“I’ll be right back. Don’t move!”

She did as she was told as he jogged back towards the bedroom and appeared again a moment later with his camera in his hands.

“No, no,” she complained.

“Come on.” He grinned. “Please. Just let me take one. I have to capture this, you look too pretty.”

Annabeth sighed, rolling her eyes and feeling her cheeks get warm anyway. “Fine.”

So she sat as he pointed his camera at her and let him take quite a few more than one photo until she pointed out that his onions were burning.

“It’s called sauteing, Annabeth. Don't worry, I can teach you all of this.”

This seemed to imply that he wanted to stick around for a while, an idea she wasn’t opposed to in any way.

* * *

Annabeth was correct in her assumptions about him, something which she let herself feel smug about as she sat across from him in the large bathtub two days later. Percy sipped his champagne and wiped bubbles off of his chin. Annabeth pressed her foot against his thigh and watched him sit up straighter and throw her a heavy look. 

She grinned. 

“Have you ever had champagne in a bathtub before?” she asked him. 

“You know, I can’t say I have. Thank you so much for introducing me to it.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Is this just a regular Thursday evening for you then?”

He hasn’t probed much about her life, for which she has felt grateful, but she could tell his curiosity was getting the better of him. Annabeth put down her glass, reaching over the edge of the tub to place it on the floor. 

“Not exactly. I’m usually pretty busy with work.”

“Stuck in the office.”

“Sort of. I work from home a lot.”

“Makes it hard to switch off, huh?”

“You could say that. I guess that’s why I have trips like this.”

“And why you need distractions like me?”

The way he said it was a little self deprecating, like he already knew this and was waiting for her to move on at the end of the week. He had tried for teasing, to continue their flirty back and forth, but had missed the mark and she saw straight through him. 

“You’re not a distraction,” she told him. “You’re something else.”

He looked up at her with those eyes, deep green in the low light of the bathroom. Annabeth saw worry there and she wasn’t sure how to fix it. 

She had read literature that aimed to describe this feeling and has never connected to it. The feeling of two souls finding one other. The feeling of being inexplicably drawn to somebody; the feeling of already knowing them, like relief. Like, oh, there you are. 

Annabeth was not the type to commit easily, nor was she one to wear her heart on her sleeve. But something about Percy drew this out of her. 

She crawled into his lap, relieving him of his glass so he could put his hands on her instead. Bath water sloshed around them, threatening to spill over the edge of the tub, as she settled against him. She traced the side of his face with her finger and he looked up at her with nothing but trust. 

“You’re… you’re somebody I want to keep around,” she told him. “I feel like I already know you, somehow.”

She felt a little embarrassed, not a feeling she was at all used to. But he brought it out in her. His face lit up, a smile curving his lovely lips. 

“The feeling is mutual. I don’t think I can… the idea of not seeing you again after this week is driving me crazy.”

“Then let’s see each other.”

“Simple as that, huh?”

“Well we live in the same city. I don’t see why it can’t be.”

Regaining his confidence, his hands slipped lower down her back and pulled her closer. He kissed her collarbone. 

“I can take you on a date,” he said, the deep hum of his voice against her throat making her shiver. 

“Mm. Where will you take me?”

“Maybe a bar.”

“Oh, romantic.”

“I figured you’re sick of fancy restaurants.” He kissed her jaw. 

“Maybe.”

“We’ll play darts and pool and you’ll beat me at both.”

“Naturally.”

“Then you’ll drink me under the table.” He reached the corner of her mouth and kissed her there gently. Annabeth felt her bones turn to jelly. 

“And then what.”

“Then I’ll walk you home like a gentleman.”

Annabeth cupped the back of his neck in both hands and leaned back to look at him. “Would you come inside?”

“I think that’s up to you.”

“Mm. I’ll have to think about it.”

“Well, I look forward to finding out.”

She smiled into their kiss. She would have to tell him the truth, just not in this moment. In this moment all she wanted was to hold him closer and feel him everywhere and forget her own name. 

* * *

It was the last night of her trip and Annabeth was out of excuses. They had barely spent a moment out of each other’s company in the last six days and she had evaded any curious questions from him and chickened out of any opportune moment to come clean to him. 

She didn’t owe him anything, Charles had reminded her in the brief moment he’d found her alone. Percy was on the phone to his mom, having walked down to the beach to do so. 

“I know,” she had told him. “I don’t want to tell him because of that. I want to tell him because this feels like a real thing between us and I’m gonna see him again, and beside the fact that getting involved with me means signing up to your life being on the line most of the time, I want to be honest with him.”

Charles shook his head. “I don’t see how you can trust him.”

“I’m not gonna tell him anything that could land me in jail.”

“It’s not just that.”

“I know. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

“At least let me background check him.”

“We both know you’ve already done that.”

He breathed out heavily through his nose, caught out. “Only initial checks. I need to do a deep dive.”

“Then dive away, Charles.”

“And if I find something?”

She watched Percy walk up the beach towards them as he pocketed his phone, all smiles. “Then you can be the one to deal with him.”

Now, standing in the living room of Percy’s modest cabin, she felt growing confidence that Charles would find nothing in his search. She walked to the mantelpiece where several framed photos had been placed. There was one of a woman about her age with a little black haired boy on her hip. The woman had long brown hair and kind, soulful eyes. Her smile was replicated on the little boy's face, their only similar feature. He held up a pretty conch shell like it was a prize and Annabeth could almost hear his little laugh through the photo. 

“I don’t have any champagne, sorry,” Percy said, re-entering the room. He handed her a beer. 

“How disappointing,” she teased, clinking her bottle to his before taking a sip. 

“Admiring the family photos?” he asked, lifting his chin to the photo she’d been looking at. 

“You were a cute kid.”

“Wasn’t I? Man I bet you were cute as hell.”

She laughed, joining him on the couch. “There’s a few photos of little Annabeth without front teeth.”

“Oh man, what do I have to do to see those?”

“I’ll think of something.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I can’t wait.”

She sipped on her beer, comfortable in the quiet between them. But he was watching her and she couldn’t help but squirm under his gaze. She wasn’t used to being the one who was scrutinised. 

“What?”

He shook his head. “You sure you have to go back tomorrow?”

“I’ve already extended my trip by three days. I have to go back to work sometime.”

“Is your boss pissed?”

“Yeah I’m pretty mad I’ve let myself slack off this much.”

“Oh is that how it is?”

She nodded. “That’s how it is.”

“Boss lady, huh?” He bit his lip. 

“Oh that does it for you, does it?”

Percy laughed, a little abashed. “Maybe.”

And here it was again, the perfect opening. She had ducked out of every single other opportunity given to her and couldn’t do it again. 

“Percy, what is it that you think I do? For work?”

He looked at her carefully. “I don’t know. I figured something to do with money. Now I think maybe you run your own business, but what that business is, I don’t know.”

“I do run my own business,” she told him because that much was true. “I inherited it from my mother, but cleaned it up a lot when I took over.”

“Okay?”

She watched his expression change into something more serious and was glad he read her tone. 

“I cleaned it up but it’s still pretty dirty work.”

“Who says so?”

“The police department.”

He took a moment. “Okay.”

“Percy, I’m not.” She took a breath. “A lot of people would say I’m a bad person, and I wouldn’t argue with them. I make deals with people over things that you would never cross paths with and I’ve had people dealt with when they don’t agree with me.”

“So you’re a… mob boss?”

There it was. “In so many words, yes.”

He didn’t say anything else and Annabeth started to resign herself to the idea of letting him go. He was too good, too innocent for this world. And it was not a world she would ever be able to leave behind, even if she wanted to. 

“Percy, listen to me. I don’t regret a moment of this week, including telling you this. I was born into this world but I made a choice to stay in it and I know i would be asking you to do the same thing. I know that not an easy choice to make and I swear to god you can walk away from this without a single consequence.”

He frowned, leaning forward to catch her cheek in the palm of his warm hand. She held onto his wrist. 

“I’ll stay for tonight, if that’s what you want. I’ll stay here with you and I’ll leave in the morning and that can be the last time we see each other.”

“It would be that easy?”

“No, it would fucking suck for me. But it’s your choice. I know that it’s only been six days and this is...a lot. I get that.”

He looked pained. “I don’t… I don’t know.”

“Do you want me to go now?”

“No,” he said abruptly and then shook his head at himself. 

“Okay. Then I’ll stay tonight.”

She leaned forward slowly to kiss him, waiting to be pushed back at any time. But he just pulled her closer. Annabeth didn’t know what he would decide in the morning but tonight, at least, would be theirs. 

* * *

_ Two months later  _

Annabeth’s office was her favourite room in her expansive house. She spent most of her time in there so it did make sense to decorate it to her exact liking. Her desk was the only thing that had remained from her mother’s time ruling the roost. It was a large, ornate thing positioned in front of the fireplace. The walls were lined with books on one side, a favourite painting hanging on another. Annabeth had a view out of the generous window onto the gardens from where she sat in her plush leather chair behind her desk. 

She made some of her most important decisions here, held her more difficult phone calls, constructed her complex plans at this desk with her closest aides. 

A knock at the door lifted her gaze first to the clock on her desk and then to the door. It was quarter past six and Charles Beckendorf was standing on the other side of the thick oak wood. 

“Come in.”

“Boss,” he greeted, closing the door behind him. 

“Charles. What can I help you with?”

He stood straight as a pole in front of her desk with his hands behind his back. She imagined for a moment, seeing him as a stranger and thought about how threatening he could appear. It was no front though, he was certainly capable of following through on such threats as required. Annabeth was long past feeling afraid of big men though. 

“Your date is here,” he told her. 

“Oh, wonderful.” She stood up and pulled her jacket on. “Was there anything else?” she asked, because there clearly was. 

He sighed heavily. “I wanted to let you know that I heard back from my connection in MI6 and they had nothing to report. Your guy has officially been subject to the most scrutinous background checks and I have nothing to report.”

Annabeth tried to refrain from smiling too smugly. “I’m very grateful, Charles.”

“You were right about him,” he admitted. 

“I usually am.”

“Yeah, okay. Don’t let it go to your head.”

She chuckled to herself as another light knock sounded at the door. She exchanged a look with Charles who opened it for her. 

Percy Jackson stood on the threshold wearing a grey shirt, black jeans, and his clean converses. He had been to the house before, at Charles’ deep displeasure, but never to her office. 

“Hey,” she said, hearing the softness in her own voice. 

“Hi.” He edged into the room, glancing nervously at Charles who held the door open for him

She met him halfway, pressing her hand to his chest and leaning in to kiss him. He relaxed a little. 

“You ready to go?” he asked. 

“Yep, I’m all yours.”

He smiled, pleased, and held out his elbow to her. Annabeth linked her arm through his, ready to go when he paused, gazing at the painting on the wall. 

“Is that an O’Keeffe?” he asked. 

She raised her eyebrows at him, impressed. 

He shrugged. “Probably the one thing that stuck from my art history class. She did some cool stuff. Didn’t one of hers break a record for selling for forty million recently?”

“Forty-four point four,” she corrected. 

He looked at her and then slowly back at the painting. “Fuck.”

She grinned and tugged on his arm. “Come on, let’s get dinner. My treat.”

“Well,  _ yeah _ .”

They walked out of the room together, followed by Charles who closed the door carefully behind him. Annabeth held onto Percy’s arm as they left the house, feeling just as giddy as she did two months ago when she woke up in his arms. He hadn’t let her sneak out of bed, keeping her trapped against his chest. 

“I’m all in,” he had told her. “I’m not letting you go.”

And true to his word, he hadn’t. 


End file.
